Speed limits on 45 of South Australia’s rural roads reduced in an effort to bring down the state’s road toll
November 18, 2011
Speed limits on 45 of South Australia’s rural roads have been reduced in an effort to bring down the state’s road toll.
The change from 110km/h to 100km/h affects sections within the 100-km radius of Adelaide and on the York Peninsula and will start this month. However, national highways and freeways will be excluded.
Road Safety Minister Jennifer Rankine says 64 percent of all fatalities occurred in the regions last year, with 51 people dying on the rural roads this year.
“In the past five years, almost one fifth of all fatal and serious injury crashes in South Australia occurred within a 100-kilometre radius outside of metropolitan Adelaide,” she says.
“Records show there were 290 casualty crashes recorded on those 45 roads in a five year period (2006-2010) resulting in 22 fatalities and 121 serious injuries.
“Analysis of this crash data indicates that if the speed limit on these 45 roads is reduced by 10km/h there’s the potential for 12 less casualty crashes each year.”
Rankine says speed reduction on about 1100km of rural roads in 2003 led to a 20 percent drop in casualty crashes.
“On average, the 100km/h limit will add only about one minute in travel time to a 20km journey, while saving around 10 cents a litre in petrol. The initiative follows considerable state government investment into the 45 road sections over the past five years where more than $17 million has been spent on safety treatments.”